Hemp News No. 8

UPn 05/12/93 Police arrest three for hauling marijuana with patient in ambulance
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (UPI) -- The dog knew something was amiss.
Police said the driver of an ambulance from Laredo told officers Wednesday
afternoon he was carrying a female patient to Santa Rosa Hospital in Antonio. On
the seat next to him was a woman dressed as a nurse.
Officers at a Border Patrol checkpoint waved the ambulance through -- but a
drug-sniffing dog alerted them that something was wrong.
After the vehicle, owned by Medic Ambulance Service of Laredo, pulled up to
the hospital -- and after doctors determined there was nothing wrong with the
"patient," -- police alerted by the Border Patrol uncovered 200 pounds of
marijuana hidden in compartments that normally carry oxygen and other emergency
equipment, officials said.
The ambulance's driver, "nurse" and "patient" were arrested and charged with
possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, police said.
But police said the driver did not use the flashing lights or siren during
the trip.
UPwe 05/13/93 1644 Raid nets 96 marijuana plants
UKIAH, Calif. (UPI) -- Mendocino County authorities said Thursday they have
broken up a large indoor marijuana growing operation, confiscating 96 plants, 50
LSD tablets and several loaded weapons and arresting one man.
A Mendocino County Sheriff's Department spokesman said an informant tipped
them to the operation, triggering a raid Wednesday by agents of the county's
narcotics task force.
Taken into custody at the home was Walter Klopfenstein, 48, of Ukiah. He was
being held in Mendocino County jail on $10,000.
Klopfenstein has been booked on charges of growing marijuana, possessing
marijuana for sale, possessing LSD and possessing psilocybin mushrooms.
Agents found 96 plants being grown by artficial light inside the residence.
They also found 50 tablets of LSD, 37 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, two loaded
pistols and a .22-caliber rifle.
UPce 05/16/93 Barney blasts authorities
DETROIT (UPI) -- Detroit Lions legend Lem Barney, facing two counts of drug
possession, claims the charges against him are trumped up and prosecutors have
portrayed him "like some kind of Jeffrey Dahmer."
Barney refused to discuss details of his March 19 arrest but said authorities
"have tried to turn a matchstick into a dynamite stick. This so-called incident
is a nonstory.
"They're trying to make me look like some kind of Jeffrey Dahmer, or David
Koresh," Barney said Sunday.
"I'm not a Jeff Dahmer (a serial killer). I'm just a man who is active in his
community and church."
Barney's problems began on March 19 when Michigan State Police discovered the
Hall of Fame cornerback's car crahsed into a Detroit freeway guard rail. Police
said they found marijuana "roaches" and cocaine on the floor.
Barney, who is active in children's anti-drug programs, also had a
blood-alcohol level of 0.108, higher than the legal limit, police said.
If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison. His trial date has not
been scheduled.
Barney, of suburban Southfield, played 11 seasons with the Lions, rising to
stardom after being drafted as a little-known defensive back from Jackson State
University in Mississippi.
05/18/93 [untitled - Long Beach Press-Telegram editorial]
(Long Beach, Calif.) Press-Telegram on the failed $100 billion drug battle:
After two decades of waging a costly, futile war against drugs, we've not
only failed miserably to stem the prolific flow of illegal drugs into the United
States, we haven't even been able to control the vast quantities of marijuana
and other "designer" drugs being produced right here. ...
Up to now, the solutions of choice have been supply interdiction and stiff,
mandatory penalties for those found using or selling illegal drugs, even in
small quantities. Neither approach has worked, and all we have to show for the
$100 billion battle are jails and courtrooms overloaded to the point of
collapse. ...
The Clinton administration seems ready to take U.S. drug policy in a new
direction by placing greater emphasis and more dollars on treatment rather than
interdiction. ...
(A) treatment plan ... started in Miami under its former prosecutor, U.S.
Attorney General Janet Reno (is) called Drug Court. The program allows some drug
offenders to get treatment instead of jail terms. Although the results aren't
perfect, if handled as carefully as in Miami the program would be a vast
improvement over what we have today. One of every four Los Angeles County
inmates is doing jail time for drug possession or sales, and the number goes
even higher when other drug-related crimes are included. ...
Since Miami's Drug Court began in 1989, two-thirds of the 5,000 suspected
felons who completed the yearlong program were rearrested less often and stayed
crime-free longer than those who did not participate. ...
Drug Court is worth trying in Los Angeles -- as long as the money saved in
the county jail system ... is fully committed to a closely monitored drug
treatment program. With that proviso, what have we got to lose?
------
UPwe 05/19/93 $5 million in drug-tainted cash seized
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (UPI) -- Attorney General Dan Lungren announced the seizure
Wednesday of $5 million in drug-tainted cash that will be put to use by police
in future drug busts under California's asset forfeiture law.
Lungren took advantage of Saturday's seizure to urge the Legislature to renew
the controversial law, which is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.
Lungren said the law was the most effective tool police have in the war on
drugs "because it allows us to take drug criminals' ill-gotten gains and use
those assets in future drug investigations."
The law was questioned recently after a wealthy Malibu man was killed by Los
Angeles County sheriff's deputies who thought he was using his ranch to grow
marijuana. No drugs were found, and it was later learned the department had
hoped to seize the multimillion-dollar ranch under the forfeiture law.
But Lungren defended the law, emphasizing that more than 99 percent of
forfeitures are "good cases."
As the result of Saturday's bust, three people were arrested and police
seized three assault weapons, a rifle, three handguns and two kilos of cocaine
at a suspect's rented residence in Baldwin Park.
Taken into custody were: Juan Carlos Barrios, 36, of Berwyn, Ill., Rafael
Cuadra, 32, of San Diego and Martin Felix Heras, 19, of Baldwin Park.
Federal agents said they saw a suspicious out-of-state rental van, which
eventually led them to the Baldwin Hills residence where a portion of cash was
recovered along with the weapons and drugs.
The rest of the cash -- $1.2 million -- was recovered from a car authorities
believe was headed for the Mexican border.
APn 05/19/93 Ancient Marijuana
NEW YORK (AP) -- Ashes from a fourth-century tomb near Jerusalem suggest that
marijuana plants may have been used in the ancient Middle East to help
childbirth, researchers say.
The tomb contained the remains of a teen-ager who apparently died while
giving birth, or during the last stages of pregnancy.
Analysis indicated that ashes found with the skeleton came from cannabis, the
marijuana plant. Apparently, cannabis was burned for use as an inhalant to aid
childbirth, researchers said, noting that a 19th-century medical publication
said it strengthened contractions while reducing labor pain.
Medicinal use of cannabis was recorded in Egypt in the 16th century B.C., the
Israeli scientists said in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
UPce 05/19/93 Weekend rally to raise money for Weedstock defense
By CINDY SIMMONS
MADISON, Wis. (UPI) -- Promoters of a Memorial Day weekend pot rally have
scheduled a fund-raiser Saturday at the same Town of Vermont farm county
officials have said cannot be used for Weedstock '93.
County officials said the farm, which is zoned for agricultural use only,
would have to be zoned for recreational and commercial use for the outdoor
entertainment and camping planned for Weedfest '93 that may draw about 5,000
people. The town quickly moved to ban parking along the road leading to the farm
Memorial day weekend.
Ben Masel, the head of the Wisconsin National Organization to Reform
Marijuana Laws, said the fund-raiser Saturday will feature the same type of
entertainment as Weedstock in a one-day event. He said it will squeak by the
requirements because there will be no outdoor entertainment, the bands will play
inside a huge barn.
"The parking restrictions don't kick in until Tuesday," Masel laughed.
Money raised at the event will go to fighting a court order that Weedstock
not be held at the farm because of the zoning restrictions, he said.
Masel said organizers plan to win an appeal of that order, but if they do
not, on Memorial Day weekend festival goers will be led to different sites in
the county "day to day or hour to hour."
"I can think of all kinds of great places we might want to visit," Masel
said, listing a county board member's farm and a factory that once made rope
from hemp.
"All we wanted to do was have a nice, quiet private gathering," he said.
Masel contends ordinances are being enforced selectively because his group
backs legalizing marijuana. He said that violates the First Amendment guarantee
of freedom of speech.
No sites that fit the zoning requirements have been found in Dane County that
are available for use that weekend, he said.
Masel admitted he is enjoying the battle with the county.
"I haven't had this much fun in a long time," he said.
UPf 05/20/93 Financial Officer Charged with Cultivation Takes Early Retirement
COLUMBUS, Ohio (UPI) -- Bob Evans Farms Inc. said Thursday that Chief
Financial Officer Keith Bradbury, who remains under investigation after the
alleged discovery of marijuana on his property last week, has taken early
retirement.
Company Chairman and CEO Daniel Evans said Bradbury, 59, who also served as
treasurer and a member of the board, decided to retire to "avoid any adverse
effect on the company."
Last week, police allegedly found marijuana during a search of the
executive's home and that of his tenant on adjacent property. However,
authorities have not charged Bradbury so far.
Bradbury began his career with Bob Evans in 1957, becoming a company officer
in 1963.
In a statement released by the company, Bradbury said his "great respect for
this company, its employees and stockholders will not allow me to continue my
employment with Bob Evans Farms at this time. The company's positive reputation
is one I do not want to jeopardize."
Bob Evans Inc. gave Vice President Donald Radkoski interim responsibilities
as chief financial officer and treasurer.
Bob Evans Farms markets food products and operates restaurants in the
Midwest.
UPwe 05/20/93 Deputy charged with supplying drugs to inmates
LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy accused of
supplying inmates at the Men's Central Jail with heroin, cocaine and marijuana,
pleaded innocent Thursday to drug charges.
Alfred Saenz, 23, pleaded innocent to one count of bringing drugs into jail
and one count each of sale or transportation of heroin, cocaine and marijuana.
If convicted, Saenz faces a maximum term of seven years in prison.
Los Angeles Municipal Court Commissioner John Ladner scheduled a preliminary
hearing for June 11. Saenz was being held on $500,000 bail.
Deputy District Attorney Alan Yochelson said inmates ordered the drugs and
put Saenz in contact with their dealers.
The inmates allegedly paid Saenz to bring the drugs into jail, he said.
Saenz was arrested May 18, six days after he allegedly bought drugs from an
undercover officer and took the drugs into jail.
The Sheriff's Department launched an undercover investigation in April after
receiving information that inmates were ordering drugs through a deputy.
UPne 05/20/93 Another day in court for forfeiture case
TRENTON, N.J. (UPI) -- A New Jersey appeals court has ordered a new hearing
for a convicted marijuana grower facing forfeiture of his home and savings.
The court did not rule on the merits of the state's forfeiture law. A
three-judge panel handed down a short opinion Thursday that said Gregory Fuhs of
Somerset has not been given an adequate chance to fight the seizure of his
property.
The Fuhs case has been used by groups lobbying for more restrictive laws as
an example of prosecutorial overreach. Fuhs faces the loss of a house and
thousands of dollars after being convicted of growing marijuana in his backyard
for his own use and for friends.
Fuhs' lawyer, Jack Venturi of New Brunswick, said police seized a total of
about 4 pounds of marijuana, both harvested and unharvested. Much of it, he
added, was of poor quantity.
"This guy committed a criminal act," Venturi said. "He's not a criminal
person."
Fuhs remains on probation after serving a short jail term for possession of
marijuana with intent to distribute. But Venturi says Somerset County Prosecutor
Nicholas Bissell at one point offered Fuhs a deal that would have allowed him to
escape jail by turning over a bank account.
"They wanted $65,000 to make the charges go away," Venturi said.
Fuhs claims his original lawyer agreed to the deal without his knowledge or
consent. When Fuhs challenged the deal, Bissell sought forfeiture of his home.
A judge ruled that Fuhs should lose his house because he had used it for
criminal activity but said that requiring him to forfeit $65,000 as well would
be excessive. Both sides appealed that order.
The appeals court decision affirms Fuhs' criminal conviction and returns the
entire forfeiture case to the trial judge for a new hearing.
UPce 05/20/93 Consumer protection for marijuana users has sharp teeth
INDIANAPOLIS (UPI) -- Indiana Appeals Court Judge John G. Baker says
Indiana's tough consumer protection law for marijuana users is wrong, but Baker
was in the minority Thursday on a case from Connersville.
James D. Conner was sentenced in Fayette Circuit Court to six years in prison
for selling an informant some weedy wet stuff that was not marijuana for $1,600.
His conviction was upheld, 2-1, but the majority said the judge made some errors
and might have to cut the sentence to five years.
Baker noted that Conner risked a hitch of up to eight years for selling fake
marijuana, but would have chanced a year in jail at most for selling an ounce of
the real stuff. In a 14-page dissent he called the marijuana law "both
irrational and smelly."
"Conner's crime involves dishonesty," the majority said, citing the state's
arguments that a "duped purchaser...might very well resort to violence to get
even with the dishonest drug dealer." Besides, the majority said, other
non-violent deceptions, such as forgery, are punished as harshly as selling
bogus drugs.
Baker and the majority also disagreed about whether the state even proved
Conner had sold nothing but fake marijuana.
Majority Judges Jonathan Robertson and George B. Hoffman Jr. said it is well
settled that appeals courts don't reweigh the evidence. A detective testified
the stuff "sure didn't look like marijuana." A crime lab expert said testing of
a sample disclosed no marijuana. The jury reasonably concluded Conner knew the
stuff was fake, the majority said.
Baker insisted the only way to prove the negative was to test it all. Without
doing that, the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Conner had
not included marijuana or some controlled substance in the batch of 16 bags, he
said.
The majority said there is a real flaw in the law's repeated references to
delivery or transfer of a "controlled substance" even when regulating sales of
bogus drugs. That's a harmless, "hypertechnical" defect, the majority said.
The majority ordered the trial court to list some valid aggravating
circumstances or cut Conner's term to the presumptive sentence of five years.
There were insufficient aggravating circumstances listed for the "enhanced"
six-year term, the state court ruled.
WP 05/24/93 Medicine: Use of Marijuana in Childbirth
A 1,600-year-old personal tragedy has yielded a glimpse of early medicinal
uses of marijuana. Reporting in the May 20 Nature, Raphael Mechoulam of the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem and colleagues analyzed materials found in an
ancient family tomb near Jerusalem. Seven grams of carbonized matter were found
near the corpse of a girl, about 14 years of age, who apparently died in
childbirth around 400 AD. The researchers recovered tiny amounts of
6-tetrahydrocannabinol (6-THC), a component of cannabis. The researchers believe
the plant was burned in some kind of a vessel and administered to the girl "as
an inhalant to facilitate the birth process."
Medical texts from the 19th century, the authors note, held that marijuana
increases the force of uterine contractions and reduces the pain of labor. While
this is apparently the first physical evidence of ancient pot use, reports
appear in an Egyptian papyrus from the 16th century B.C.
- J.S.
circa 05/24/93 [untitled - David Lee Roth Off the Hook]
OFF THE HOOK: If rock 'n' roller David Lee Roth can behave himself for the
next year, he won't have a criminal record in New York. In a brief appearance in
a Manhattan criminal courtroom last week, a drug case against the former Van
Halen lead singer was adjourned pending dismissal. That means a charge that he
bought a bag of marijuana in Greenwich Village's Washington Square last month
will be dropped and his record wiped clean if he is not arrested in the next
year. Roth, 38, was arrested April 16 after police observed him buying a bag of
pot. If convicted of drug possession, Roth would have faced up to 15 days in
jail and a $250 fine.